Editor review

January 23, 2012(Updated: June 18, 2012)

Steven Johnson

Overall rating

9.4

Site Speed & Uptime

10.0

Control Panel Features

8.0

Customer Support

9.5

Price

10.0

A Joomla-focused company that does it right

***Update May 2012***
After several months of using Cloud Access we wanted to follow up and let everyone know we are still happy with our service. The speed is second to none for a shared server, control panel is easy to use and navigate, and tech support is stellar. They are timely and helpful.

A recent example came about when we were trying to get an extension to start working. We submitted a ticket around 9pm EST. With in 30 Minutes we had a response from a technician who had already gone through our site and looked at the problem. When they emailed us back that had a solution for us to try. It worked and even though they are not technically supposed to be responsible with 3rd party extensions they were still able to help me with it.

Their knowledgebase is helpful too. We had to set up a new email for the domain. They use Google Apps and so do we. The tutorial was straight forward and it just worked with no interruptions. This is impressive. Phone support would still be helpful when you have a complex issue that is hard to describe over email. Otherwise we have had nothing but good things come from this company

***Initial Review January 2012***
Sign up and Setup:
We found it easy to register for Cloud Access. The sign up process does not take long but could be shorter.

After this is complete, you are taken to the dashboard. Here you can manage account information and buy products. It is clean, intuitive and makes working with Joomla very simple.

Joomla install
To start a Joomla site click, “Launch Joomla! Application”. This takes you to the area where you can demo a Joomla site before signing up with Cloud Access. We chose to use "install an instance of Joomla 1.7".

We clicked “Order Now” to start the demo. In the next screen it asks how we wanted to set up the domain. We chose to use the free Cloud Access domain to start with. Once order is complete you can start using Joomla.

To get there type in the name of the domain you installed Joomla to and you will see the site is already installed and ready to go. Login by using “/administrator” after the domain. You can find your login information in a message sent to you account and email after install.

Using Joomla
We thought getting Joomla up and running was simple and easy. After it was set up and we were logged in, it was just like any other Joomla administrator backend.

What makes Cloud Access different is they have a custom control panel pre-built into Joomla. It comes with several different options that are worth mentioning.

Resources:
In this section you can see plan related statistics like monthly bandwidth, disk space usage, and email usage. There is a tab that expands the bandwidth into a daily view to make it a little more detailed.

Backup:
This section utilizes a component called Akeeba Backup. It is the industry leader in Joomla backup. Cloud Access Incorporated this into their control panel, so no need to install it separately.

PHPMyAdmin:
One of the more unusual tabs to see inside of Joomla is PHPMyAdmin. This holds your Joomla databases accessible directly from the Joomla backend. This is very unique and not a standard practice.

Clear All:
This is a one tab tool that’s sole purpose is to delete everything. It works great for deleting sample data that is installed with Joomla.

These control panel options are pretty cool. Cloud Access run most of the Joomla extensions that we run on our sites, but we think they could include more. Having builtin backup is great and being able to access the database right from Joomla does save a lot of time. Other tools included in the Cloud Access control panel are Domain DNS, Domain Aliases, and Cron Jobs.

We like the built-in Joomla control panel, but think it is limited to the more advanced users. Using a service like Cloud Access is great assuming that you would rather have them be in control of the technical side instead of you.

Using Templates
On the front end of Cloud Access head over to the Templates section. If you purchase a Cloud Access hosting plan all of the templates are free and they will install them for you.

Another aspect of using Cloud Access that we like is that they will install any 3rd party templates for you for free too. In order to use this service, purchase one of the plans and then search the internet for any template you want to use. Email them and they will install it for you.

Speed
Cloud Access is really fast. Publishing a page in Joomla takes less then a second. We found it to be seamless, without any interruptions or issues. Cloud Access keeps things fast by having top notch server environments.

We think their speed is great, but we did wonder why they did not include a caching plugin as part of their Joomla bundle. This is something we will be installing to any of our Joomla sites. Caching speeds up webpage delivery by a lot. Also, we think a builtin plugin that allows easy access to a CDN would be an improvement.

After following the server response times for a few days using Pingdom, we found that Cloud Access' Servers are very fast. They delivered our test page below 800ms. That is great speed for shared hosting.

Support
We got help from support almost instantly. Even with only a demo site running, tech support gave us a quick response. We asked them if there was any way to not install Sample Data when Joomla was installed. They replied that their Joomla Configuration included Sample Data. We thought they could have mentioned their “Clear All” that will delete all menu items, modules, articles and categories. This gets rid of the Sample Data after install.

Conclusion
Cloud Access handles everything Joomla related to their web service. You don't have to install anything and you can pick from a bunch of pre-built templates. They have a great control panel, their speed is incredible and a great Joomla tech support staff. They could have phone support for even better support, but we have been doing just fine with what they have given us to work with. We highly recommend running your Joomla site with Cloud Access.

Is the control panel easy to navigate? How useful are the features provided?

Customer Support

How responsive and quick is Customer Support?

Price

In regards to the money spent each month how well is your money spent?

Overview

Describe Yourself:

What is your experience level?

How long have you used this host:

How long have you been a customer of this hosting company?

Pros and Cons

Pros

What are the pros to this company

Cons

What are the negative aspects to this company

Comments

April 17, 2016

Rob Valk

Overall rating

9.6

Site Speed & Uptime

9.5

Control Panel Features

10.0

Customer Support

10.0

Price

9.0

By far one of the best hosting companies

With full conviction I can recommend Cloudacces to you as beeing a top notch service provider.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cloudaccess is offering a very stable hosting platform and their support is amazing.
In terms of price/performance/quaulity they are the best. I am not a Techie, so once in a while I need support on hosting issues, mail issues and Joomla issues. They are alway willing to help and there has been no occassion the could not help me.

Cons

No Cons, but maybe they must allow for more then one database.

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November 02, 2015

Francis Ponteri

Overall rating

9.1

Site Speed & Uptime

10.0

Control Panel Features

8.5

Customer Support

10.0

Price

8.0

Excellent Support

I have been with them for over four years now. Get offers all the time for cheaper hosting services. As long as they keep offering great support and service, I won't ever consider switching providers. I recommend them to every client if we don't host for them.

Pros and Cons

Pros

I consider them to have the bed customer service and support. I submit a ticket and have never waited more than a few hours to get an answer. I have been with other services previously and have had to wait days for a response. When I have a problem, especially with a clients service, I need answers ASAP, not 72 hours later. Cloudaccess.net gets me my answers when I need them.

Cons

They are more expensive then most of the services out there. The difference for me is support. When 10 services are offering the same thing, but one has top notch customer service and support, that's my guy. I'll pay more any day when I dont have additional headaches from my hosting provider.

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September 04, 2015

Jean-Yves

Overall rating

10.0

Site Speed & Uptime

10.0

Control Panel Features

10.0

Customer Support

10.0

Price

10.0

Highly Recommended!

I'm an entrepreneur needing Joomla to run my publishing websites. Nice not to have to worry about Joomla issues and hosting problems.

Pros and Cons

Pros

I can not be thankful enough for the support I received from CloudAccess.net in the past years. As a lone entrepreneur, they have bailed me out of trouble a few times when my knowledge and that of hosting and Joomla forums could not do it. It's been like having an IT dep't at my disposal when it came to fix my website issues.

For the price they charge and the performance they give, could one ask for more?

Cons

Up to about a month ago, there were no file manager in the Control panel, this has been rectified.
They were producing great extension webinars, seem to have stop lately, would be great to see more on new components and plugins.

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March 15, 2015

Andy Schupak

Overall rating

10.0

Site Speed & Uptime

10.0

Control Panel Features

10.0

Customer Support

10.0

Price

10.0

Super Service

Excellent service. Haven't had a more cooperative vendor

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January 23, 2015

Josh

Overall rating

9.9

Site Speed & Uptime

10.0

Control Panel Features

9.5

Customer Support

10.0

Price

10.0

Real helpful host.

Really great team to work with -

Pros and Cons

Pros

Quick Set up
Great support desk - that is not trying to upsell - but reads your issue and gets the right person on it
Price

It's all about Support when it breaks...

Service is the Key... I believe it was worth it and it continues to payoff here...

Pros and Cons

Pros

- Fast and Simple to Setup
- Always Up to Date as Joomla evolves
- Fast and Consistent Service even if it is not their fault
- Good for Newbies on a Business Site
- They Focus on Joomla and are Joomla Experts
- Best for Do It Yourself Business Owners
- Support is worth the Price if you are Learning and not a Programmer

Cons

- Just Playing around with Joomla ? Not the best option
- Price is Higher

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January 06, 2014

Sten Jones

Overall rating

8.0

Site Speed & Uptime

10.0

Control Panel Features

7.0

Customer Support

5.0

Price

10.0

Uneven support

I am an IT consultant and Joomla beginner based in Sweden. About CloudAccess:
Technical support: my simple beginner's questions have been answered very quickly, indeed. However, at least once I have received a meaningless response. (However, this was answered correctly by another support person after my "please, read again" mail.)
Administrative support: the transfer of my client's domain from a Swedish web hotel to CloudAccess and at the same time buying a support plan for it, was a horror. After a number of "yelling" e-mails (which I hate to send) and something like 2 weeks, they finally made it.
When the present 12 month support plan comes to an end, I might move this site to another web hotel. In the future I hope to sell new Joomla based sites to new clients, and have no wish to repeat this episode.
PS Sadly, the NSA snooping also adds to my desire to move to a more protected web hotel: my client has no secret information, but you know the irritating feeling of sitting with a newspaper when someone is reading over your shoulder!

Truly Insane Support!!

I have transferred all hosting needs to Cloud Access. I am valued in my company all because of their behind the scene support:))

Pros and Cons

Pros

Always there for me. Very patient with a novice like me. Never say they wont do it. Sometimes send me tutorials to watch, but most of the time do things for myself and explain with screen shots.

Cons

A little pricey. But I know its worth it. Professional services are expensive.

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July 08, 2013

Robert

Overall rating

10.0

Site Speed & Uptime

10.0

Control Panel Features

10.0

Customer Support

10.0

Price

10.0

Cloud Access Great

Cloud access great features are easy to use i have no idea about hosting or to upload a website file using FTP i search from the other online resources but i always failed to follow their horrible long instruction. But thanks to this site along with the guys they are patiently assist me, and i can rely with their support at any time. More power to Cloud Access you made such a great help especially for a freelancer like us to show our project online to our client.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Simple Joomla FTP upload

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May 22, 2013

Brandon

Overall rating

10.0

Site Speed & Uptime

10.0

Control Panel Features

10.0

Customer Support

10.0

Price

10.0

Johnathan is the man

The gentleman that has been helping me with customer service has been significantly helpful. He gave me his direct line and I "never" had to wait to be helped. I am a beginner to the wonderful world of joomla and the people of joomla make it worth every cent. I came across joomla from a friend of mine that works with marketing for a major retail store and he uses joomla quite often and has had major success because of its ease of use and wonderful customer service. This stuff is a "hit"!!... Highly recommended. You can train a monkey to use Joomla. Neat, Simple, Easy and very cheap.

Pros and Cons

Pros

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May 01, 2013

Ricardo Cruz

Overall rating

10.0

Site Speed & Uptime

N/A

Control Panel Features

10.0

Customer Support

10.0

Price

10.0

Excellent "insane" support

After reviewing comments about CloudAccess hosting, I decided to migrate an important site from other hosting company and give it a try. The first experience is the best so far. I am hopping this is THE hosting company I was looking for.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Amazing support during migration of a client´s high profile WebSite from other hosting provider. They stayed with me during the whole process and were informing me about everything that was happening. It was like working with a colleage at office, but only thousand of miles away. Simply ultimate "insane" support.

Cons

None so far.

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May 01, 2013

Alban

Overall rating

8.5

Site Speed & Uptime

9.0

Control Panel Features

7.5

Customer Support

10.0

Price

7.5

Good Support

I am writing this review to compliment Cloud Access support desk Joomla! assistance. Very helpful and quick and easy.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Quick and friendly support. Especially Larisa who was very helpful making subtle changes.

Outstanding Service

I highly recommend Cloudaccess. Give their 30 day trial a try. This is how much I like these guys - if you want, feel free to email me and I'll share my experience with you... jeff dot hunter at accessamericagroup dot com... nuff said...

Pros and Cons

Pros

In two words - Customer service. This is one of the few hosting companies that lives up to the true meaning of Customer Service. I can't say enough how important CloudAccess is to my ability as a marketing company to be able to serve my customers. CloudAccess makes themselves available via phone, chat, email and trouble tickets - and their response times are lightning fast. Beyond customer service, CloudAccess has created a bullet proof cost effective Joomla hosting environment which earns them top marks from this agency. I especially like the fact that they have Chat on the site and have someone one it at all hours! I just checked, its almost 12 midnight and I'm chatting with Irfan, one of their top admins. They man Chat 24x7, even on weekends! So if you need support, its a chat away...love that...

Cons

The amazing thing about CloudAccess is that they are constantly improving the way they do business and how they work with their customers. I've been with the company since their 1st year in business. Yes, in the early days they had challenges as you can imagine given they were and continue to be early adopters of cloud based technology. Outages and performance issues did show up, but in the past several years and expecially since they went to their own hardware and connection points to the internet, there are very few Cons. In short, we're a happy customer and continue to implement all our websites on CloudAccess!

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March 19, 2013

Brandon Camerer

Overall rating

3.9

Site Speed & Uptime

0.5

Control Panel Features

5.0

Customer Support

5.0

Price

5.0

Lost Information

Spent about 4 Hours of joomla development yesterday. Logged on today and the site was down for 5 hours. Customer support was able to restore it but lost all files that were edited yesterday. Would not recommend.

CloudAccess Company Info

CloudAccess.net is a unique "Joomla! as a service" website hosting company. They use open source technology combined with web hosting and excellent technical support to make your Joomla site much easier to use.

Because of their expertise in Joomla, they are considered to be one of the best joomla services out there.

CloudAccess Tech Support:

One of CloudAccess main features is their professional Joomla! tech support specialists. They founded the company based on Joomla!’s infrastructure

and open source design, even pioneering some custom tools for Joomla!.

Email/Online Ticket Support: Yes

Live Chat: No

Blog: No

Knowledgebase: Yes

FAQs: Yes

Tutorials: Yes

Phone Support: Yes

Why to Use CloudAccess:

They are perfect for low maintenance web hosting. CloudAccess provides a great service to make owning a professional-grade website easy. They specialize in getting you started with Joomla! so you are in control of all your data but have great assistance there if you need it.

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